Ukraine calls on allies for arms supplies

Ukraine urged its allies to send it weapons and accused rebels of persistent ceasefire violations as NATO warned about an increase in Russian troop movement both near and across the border.

“The Ukrainian army needs weapons to defend Ukraine,” Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told lawmakers in Kyiv on Friday. “And our western partners must hear: Now the Ukrainian army is struggling not just for itself, but we are fighting for peace and stability in the EU.”

Russia is staging a “substantial buildup” of forces near and in eastern Ukraine, which is undermining the ceasefire agreement signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February, said Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The rebels broke truce 21 times in the past day, including fire from heavy weapons, even as shelling has declined, authorities in Kyiv said on Friday.